The long-standing tradition of academic excellence at the University of Oregon has its basis in its distinguished faculty. Faculty are chosen and retained from an international candidate pool on their ability to produce superior scholarship in their chosen fields, to be outstanding teachers at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and to assist in the day-to-day affairs of the University through service on committees. The vast majority of instructional faculty fulfill these criteria with distinction and consistently maintain high levels of performance over many years.

To maintain the quality of our instructional faculty, it is essential that faculty remuneration and other academic support are maintained at levels that will promote faculty scholarship, encourage faculty retention, and help us to sustain and improve academic quality. The following principles are presented as a means of achieving these goals, which underpin our primary institutional aspiration of academic excellence in all fields.
 

• 1. Average instructional faculty compensation (salary + benefits) shall be increased and maintained at levels of sustained competitive parity with comparator institutions based on rank and discipline. The goal of sustained competitive parity is designed to maintain competitiveness in academic quality with our comparator institutions, all of which are distinguished, internationally recognized comprehensive public research universities. The compensation process at the University must be designed to promote and reward academic excellence in scholarship, teaching, and service. To maintain and improve academic quality and remain competitive with our national peer institutions, it is imperative that faculty be compensated in accord with national norms for distinguished public institutions.

 
• 2. Salary increases earmarked for instructional faculty shall benefit the vast majority of instructional faculty. The goal of academic excellence can be best achieved by cultivating a positive intellectual atmosphere across campus. The vast majority of instructional faculty at the University of Oregon faculty have served and continue to serve the University community and the public with distinction, consistently maintaining high levels of performance in research, teaching and service. We, as a University, must acknowledge the overall high quality of our faculty through a broad distribution of salary improvement funds to the vast majority of faculty.

 
• 3. The merit component of salary increases shall be based on performance using systematic principles and procedures adopted by each unit. The vast majority of instructional faculty, those who serve the University with distinction, shall be eligible for merit raises. Merit increases shall be distributed on the basis of performance in the three realms of scholarship, teaching, and service. Individual merit raises shall be allocated according to systematic principles and procedures determined in each unit with the approval of Dean and Provost. For the purposes of this document, ìunitî is defined as the lowest administrative unit, usually the department except in those schools without departments. The principles and procedures adopted in each unit shall be promulgated openly and clearly within the unit prior to each salary distribution. The implementation of these procedures within the unit shall be reviewed by the Office of the appropriate Dean, and by the Office of the Provost.

 
• 4. Campus-wide salary adjustments shall include a cost of living component. Achieving and maintaining compensation parity with our comparators will only be possible if changes in the cost of living are factored into the distribution of salary raises. Faculty morale is significantly enhanced by a perception of basic fairness and equity in University salary determination. For these reasons, each annual pool of salary improvement funds must include a COLA component to be distributed to all satisfactorily performing faculty.

 
• 5. Improvements in faculty compensation shall be balanced by the need to strengthen academic infrastructure. The quality of faculty scholarship cannot be sustained without continual reinvestment in academic support at the unit and University levels. Faculty compensation and academic infrastructure must each be strongly supported if the goal of academic excellence is to be maintained.

 
• 6. Full time tenure related instructional faculty who have consistently performed satisfactorily shall receive a salary not less than 80% of the average salary of their peers in their home unit at the same rank. The 80% salary floor rule shall automatically apply to all full-time tenure-related instructional faculty unless written justification is provided by the department head and approved by the Office of the Provost. Although explicitly linked to internal averages, the 80% floor is also directly tied to our comparator institutions based on the principle of sustained competitive parity (Principle #1). The establishment of salary floors for each unit and rank within the university will assist in creating a plan to rectify anomalous inequities.

 
• 7. These principles shall be implemented through sustained collaboration between the faculty and administration. The successful implementation of these principles is a function of a continued collaboration between the administration and the faculty. This collaboration recognizes the tradition of faculty governance at the University of Oregon and the operational responsibility for the university by the administration. The successful application of these principles and the commitment to the goal of sustained competitive parity depends on the good will of the administration, deans, department heads and faculty. In the spirit of collaboration, the administration and faculty through its Senate representatives shall share relevant information and data, establish and publish the criteria to be used in making salary distributions, and assess the impact of compensation distributions on the basic principles in this document.

1. Statement of Principles
2. Senate Budget Committee White Paper
3. Implementation paper
4. Home page of the Senate Budget Committee
5. UO Senate Home Page
6. The February 2000 University of Oregon Instructional Faculty Survey and banner tables - see also archival copy